1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the field of flexible electrical connectors for printed circuit boards and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art insulated flexible jumpers or connectors adapted to interconnect electrical circuits and which may be employed for interconnecting printed circuit boards or the like have been devised and are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 2,994,058 issued July 25, 1961 to Dahlgren, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,755 issued Aug. 24, 1971 to Shiells and assigned to the assignee of the instant invention. These devices, although generally adequate in certain limited applications where the jumper is not subjected to severe bending or flexure, provide no means for insuring that the exposed contact ends do not bend or flex at the juncture between the contact end and the body of the overlying insulating material. Since the support provided by the insulating material along the length of the central portion of the contact strips ends abruptly at the aforesaid juncture, the remaining exposed length of the contact strip may be readily permanently bent or deformed out of the plane of the insulating material, causing a weakening and subsequent failure or breakage of the contact end thereat. Furthermore, the disruption or disturbance of the planar symmetry of the contacts at either end of the jumper due to such bending or deformation presents a serious problem where the contacts are required to mate with a series of matching apertures or pins in a further member.